Tell Us It Used to be Wet and Warm

Mars exploration just continues to turn up more surprises all the time. Recent observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter uncovered evidence of mineral deposits of what’s called “hydrated silica” on the Martian volcano Nili Patera.  This is a form of silica that has some amount of water in its composition, which implies the existence of water.

The deposits are on the flanks of the volcanic cone and are startling evidence that there was a hydrothermal environment in that area at one time. Hydrothermal is a term that implies heated water or steam, which had minerals such as silica dissolved in it.  To get this deposit, Mars had to have heat and water — just the sort of cozy environment where life has always flourished on Earth.  While we don’t see evidence of life on Mars, the fact that hydrothermal environments once existed means that the places where life could evolve and thrive did exist on Mars, in the very distant past. This is yet another discovery that adds a data point to our continuing search for and confirmation of Mars’s watery and possibly warmer past.